How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea

Courtesy: John Carlton 

https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-modern-civilian-cargo-ships-also-use-sails-in-addition-to-engine-power-to-reduce-fuel-consumption 

I am remodeling my old article titled "How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea".  It consists of two parts. The first section covers maritime explorations carried out during the VI and V centuries BCE; it was so vividly described by Herodotus. We refer to the Phoenician expedition which is reported to have circumnavigated Africa, as well as the exploits of Sataspes, Scylax of Caryanda, and Hanno the Navigator. 

  

The other segment collects the views of classical and medieval geographers concerning the prospect of crossing the Atlantic Ocean that was believed to separate Spain (or, in another version, Marocco) from China and Japan.  These scholars discuss such issues as the existence of a landmass in between or an unbroken expanse of the deep blue. Among them, we find Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Posidonius, Strabo, Seneca, Augustine, as well as Pierre d'Ailly, Henricus Martellus, Martin Behaim, and Christopher Columbus. 

This paper was originally part of my second book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East. However, since the keynote of this volume is the overland communication, I decided to take out this extract. It lay idle while I was investigating the initial topics of my third project, the search for the maritime access to India from Europe. A not long time ago, I decided to insert this extract. 

I can't publish it now as I need to do another research which entails unavoidable corrections. Hopefully, I will upload it soon.

Meanwhile, my site https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael has attracted over five hundred readers; the good news obliges me to start writing a query letter for my second book. 

This blog has been honored by more than 2800 visits. Special thanks to my American and Ukrainian readers. I would be thankful for any comments. 

Beware of Barbarians

      Image: A Kazakh nomad “almost glued” to his mount

      Courtesy: https://metaphorimages.photoshelter.com/image/I0000lAn3o2uAWVA

My new chapter of Unit IV focuses on the treatment of nomadic pastoralists by the European literatti. I show that the pastoralist style was alien to well-educated authors and was shown as barbarian. Alexander the Great was applied as the guarding spirit of the oecumene- the civilization of the settled peoples. To match this role, he was commissioned to build the gate or the wall which was to shield the people of the sown from ugly and sinful steppe dwellers.

Here's the extract:

      

The sober report of Arrian Flavius, a Hellenistic historian and Roman general, about Alexander’s failed attempt to overhaul King Darius at the breach in the mountain wall could not suit the sophisticated taste of adventure lovers. As a response to the challenge, an entangled legend would spring up. In this tale, the Greek superstar obtained the mystical power and romantic nature. Acting as a Pan-Hellenic hegemon, he unleashed his troops in an attempt to conquer the habitable world. However, on reaching the ultimate borders of the humankind, he stumbled on weird and uncouth folks who were a far cry from anyone he had encountered before.

     The "wild nations" that Alexander of the legend dreaded so much were the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppes. Their lifestyle and manner of war diverged from those of the Greeks and seemed to undergo little changes throughout the ages. At the same time, the nomadic and sedentary worlds could not do without each other. The grassland "paradise" was speckled with barely seen paths leading to desert oases and seaside ports where the steppe products were exchanged for urban goods, ideas, and services.

When an ancient Greek would think about the nomads, the first thing that would come across his mind was Hippemolgi (Greek: “mare-milk drinkers”]. Homer immortalized this nickname in an unforgettable line where he contrasts their aristocratic manners with the koumiss consumption: “the lordly Hippemolgi who drink the milk of mares.” (2)

In the eyes of the settled onlookers, the restlessness of the pastoralists stems from the vagaries of the nomadic economy in which the well-being of the cattle drivers relies on the prosperity of their flocks. Strabo links the miserable life of the German “barbarians” with their aversion to agricultural labor: “they migrate with ease, because of the meagerness of their livelihood and because they do not till the soil or even store up food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; … they live for the most part off their flocks… they load their household belongings on their wagons and … turn whithersoever they think best.” (3)

Julius Caesar subscribes to this view, elaborating on the Germans’ dairy and meat diet: “For agriculture, they have no zeal, and the greater part of their food consists of milk, cheese, and flesh.” (4)

The same bias against the pastoralists was adopted by medieval European authors. Gerald of Wales, the twelfth-century English cleric and historian, finds the contemporary Irish people unsophisticated because of their commitment to the animal husbandry. They are “a rude people, subsisting on the produce of their cattle only, and living themselves like beasts-a people that have not departed from the primitive habits of pastoral life.” Such folks, he refines, are prone to strict conservatism and will oppose any innovations, leading “the same life their fathers did in the woods and open pastures, neither willing to abandon their old habits or learn anything new. “(5) 

The Enigma of the Antipodes

The concept of the spherical earth adopted by the classical geography included the division of our planet into five climatic segments that were assessed in relation to their habitation. The academics ruled out three latitudinal belts on behalf of their brutal weather conditions. However, they reckoned that the two remaining zones in the northern and southern hemispheres enjoyed the temperate climate and were fit for accommodation, even though their inhabitants would shun one another, sending no vital signs. No ship could stand a chance of crossing the uncharted ocean throughout the whole span of history. Likewise, no person could survive passing through the magic “firewall”, which was hovering over the equator and burning everybody who would dare to approach its fiery confines. Each part of the humankind would linger in the blissful ignorance of its counterpart.

In his poem “Hermes”, Eratosthenes carols this image, placing both human populations face to face and foot to foot: “standing opposite one another, between the heat and the showers of ice; both were temperate regions, growing with the grain... in them dwelt men antipodal to each other.” (3)

The idea of the phantom landmass below the tropics occurred to Crates of Mallus, a distinguished Greek scholar who flourished in the mid-second century BCE, while he was contemplating on the following verse from the “Odyssey”:

“A race divided, whom with sloping rays

The rising and descending sun surveys.”

(-Homer, Odyssey) (4)

Crates, who might have constructed the earliest known globe, realized that Homer spoke about two continents “sundered in twain” by the Torrid Zone. This climatic belt would sit astride the equator, estranging multiple inhabited worlds by the unbroken watery space. The reputation of the Greek national poet stood so high that our literary critic didn’t dare to question the source of the poet’s information. 

Strabo clarifies this hypothesis, which entails the existence of detached landmasses scattered over the face of the earth: “Crates… says that the Torrid Zone is “occupied” by Oceanus and that on both sides of this zone are the temperate zones.” (5)

The theory of plural worlds was one of the insights of classical wisdom. The Greek scientific genius could not be content with the solitary “circle of lands” in the northern hemisphere since such concept insulted the natural sense of harmony. Hellenistic scholars fancied three supplementary landmasses, forming, together with our ecumene, the four symmetrical "corners" of the round earth.

Ambrosius Macrobius, a Roman statesman and philosopher, who flourished in the early fifth century CE, sums up this image, visualizing oceanic currents that separate the people dwelling beyond the tropics and form “two islands on the upper face of the earth and two on the underside.” (6) 

How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea

Phoenician cargo ship 

Courtesy: https://wikis.engrade.com/phoenicianships 

My fourth chapter deals with the issue of the dimensions of the ocean and the perspectives of navigation in the Atlantic. 

I describe the voyages of ancient explorers from Egypt to West Africa (Sataspes, Hanno the Navigator) and from India to East Africa (Scylax).

I also recount the views on crossing the Atlantic expressed by philosophers (Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Posidonius, Strabo, Seneca, Pierre d'Ailly), mapmakers (Henricus Martellus, Martin Behaim), and navigators (Christopher Columbus).  The chapter is accompanied by the table, Estimation of the Breadth of the Ocean Sea.

This is an extract which refers to the voyage across Africa carried out by Phoenician mariners in the time of Pharaoh Necho:

The first expedition, commissioned by Pharaoh Necho, who reigned at the turn of the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, set a task of exploring the confines of the Dark Continent. The Phoenician mariners, who had staunch reputation for their seamanship, departed from a port on the Red Sea and after rounding the dry land made a return trip to Egypt via the Strait of Gibraltar. The food supply on board was enough for one year. To avoid starvation, the sailors had to rest on their oars twice to sow a crop of corn. Having picked up the harvest, they were able to move on forward until by the third year they had completed their heroic undertaking. The most intriguing part of the report was the observation of the sun traveling through the north across the right-left arc. The father of history slammed this testimony as too weird for his straightforward taste. (1)

This account suffers from many blunders. Since Herodotus does not allude to the source of this report, we cannot determine its trustworthiness. It is not clear what compelled the Egyptian monarch to launch this suicidal enterprise and why the Greek historian shares the pharaoh’s conviction in the possibility of the circumnavigation of Africa.

Besides, the modern reconstruction of Herodotus’ world view reveals that the “father of history” had a vague concept of the outline of the Dark Continent. Its southern fringe rounds the Atlas Mountains and stretches as far as the mouth of the Red Sea. Even this fictional voyage across the curtailed continent lasted nearly three years, demanding two landfalls and a lengthy lingering on the coast. 

Image 12: Reconstruction of Herodotus’ World View (2)  

The renowned author refuses to figure out the logistics involved in such venture. His description is too matter-of-fact and humdrum to be true. He neither explains how Phoenician ships could withstand daily tackling with unknown coastal currents and winds nor how they were able to overcome the solitude of a never ending voyage. He doesn’t report of their encounter with the natives and bizarre wildlife at sea or on land. He does not refer to any confrontation between the representatives of antagonistic cultures, though the temporary estrangement of agricultural land could not pass unnoticed by its lawful owners. Finally, except for the “perverted” sun, our historian finds no other remarkable astronomical phenomena in their account; and this particular scoop, proving that the explorers probably crossed the equator, he does deny.

Even the modern reconstruction of the journey does not supply any hard evidence. It is remarkable that a replica of a Phoenician ship rigged with a single square sail could withstand 20,000-mile voyage during two years. However, unlike ancient sailors, modern mariners knew their whereabouts and navigated their course, relying on the GPS and gleaning data from weather maps. They could sail all-year-round, even in winter, and consume foodstuffs purchased in local supermarkets. (3) 

How Long Spans the Inhabited World?

Chapter 3 of my book focuses on the classical and medieval estimations of the length of the oikoumene.

I'd like to share with you an extract where Strabo presents his ideas about the graphic representation of the known world and Eratosthenes offers his description of the "human planet".

Another argument that flared up the ancient community of scholars referred to the extent of the oikoumene, i.e.” the world which we inhabit and know.” (2). Strabo imposed upon a geographer the primary task of understanding “our inhabited world-its size, shape, and character, and its relation to earth as a whole”. (3) To achieve this goal, an explorer had to focus on the “human planet”, omitting the fringes and unfamiliar regions: “the geographer undertakes to describe the known parts of the inhabited world, but he leaves out of consideration the unknown parts… as he does what is outside of it”. (4) The "blank spots" on the map, confined within unsettled territories of deserts and steppes, seemed both unattainable and culturally underdeveloped. They emitted warning signs not only in spatial, but also in existential sense.

          The learned men figured out the oikumene as a far-flung island which is encompassed by the treacherous waters of the Ocean Sea. What lay beyond the shoreline was anyone's guess that should not bother a qualified specialist since his expertise was derived from travel accounts supported by scientific evidence. Another major source of data was military campaigns: “The spread of the empires of the Romans and the Parthians has presented to geographers of today a considerable addition to our empirical knowledge.” (5)

One could draw this spacious enclave by connecting its farthest points:  “joining with a straight line the extreme points reached on the coasting voyages made on both sides of the inhabited world.” (6) A mapmaker would focus on the dry land, marking its major rivers and main mountain ranges; he takes an interest in the sea only to spot populated islands.

Geography owes its name to Eratosthenes of Kyrene who baptized a new discipline. An outstanding Greek scholar and a curator of the Library of Alexandria, he adjusted his virtual model of the Earth along the prime parallel and meridian, which intersected on the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.

His entire inhabited world lay in the Northern Hemisphere. It resembled a soldier's cloak bound tight at the top and loose at the bottom, with tapered ends in the east and west. Its northern edge lay on the parallel of Thule (66 degrees North), a legendary island in the extreme north, while its southern margin extended as far as the Cinnamon country, (12 degrees North) in southern Sudan, close to the mouth of the Red Sea, and a mysterious island of Taprobane (Sri Lanka), off the coast of India. (7) 

How to Measure the Earth’s Circumference?

I have completed the second chapter of my book. This section tells about different approaches to the issue of estimating the Earth's circumference. You can read the first page where I explain how I picked up the medium for the estimation.

 If the earth is a globe, its circumference can be roughly determined.

The two giants of the ancient world endeavored to carry out this tremendous task. Both of them estimated the angle of elevation of heavenly bodies above the horizon at distant points presumably located on the same meridian in order to reach the measure of one degree. They also assessed the distance between these spots by converting travel days on land (1) or at sea (2) into an accepted standard of length.

The fact that each of these estimations held versions proves that the scholars were not happy with their initial scores and, being confronted with sound criticism, had to improve their performance. The degree of uncertainty only grows if we take into account the inconsistency between ancient and modern units of measurement.

          The modern science rates the equatorial circumference of the earth at 40,075 kilometers where each meridian degree stands for 111.319 kilometers. (3) Medieval academics possessed a wide choice of measurement techniques, processing a variety of values. 

In the Greek-speaking world, a conventional unit of length to estimate distances both on land and at sea was a stadium, whose value would differ from region to region. The problem with this standard lies in its ambiguity: there are no fewer than five different variants and any talk of “precision” of an ancient estimation leaves an uneasy sense of misjudgment.

Table 2: Stadium to meters conversion (4)

          As we can see, the maximum gap between the opposite values can reach 25 percent (157:209=0.75).  The mean or “consensus” equivalent (184.6), which cuts by half the span of error in this ocean of uncertainty, approaches the Attic stadium.  It also allows contrasting various estimations and matches the Roman mile to stadium conversion (1,480 meters: 8 =185 meters), as reported by Strabo: “if one reckons as most people do, eight stadia to the mile” (5).

Accidentally, the modern metrical value of nautical mile-1.85 kilometers-coincides with our assessment. We will apply this amount for our further calculations to appreciate the charms and wonders of mathematical geography.